In Search of the Unusual -- Snake Agent by Liz Williams

I finished reading Snake Agent a few days ago, and I thought it was a great read. I've been a little underwhelmed by the more traditional stuff these days (in romance, fantasy, and urban fantasy, which are my primary reading genres), and so I've been on the lookout for new authors and not necessarily edgier, but more unusual books. And sometimes older books as well.

So when I saw this book at Borders on my last visit, I picked it up. The author sounded a little familiar, and when I got home I looked her up. It turns out this is a paperback reissue of a hardcover book (same title) originally issued in 2005, with two sequels. It was published by Night Shade Books, which is a specialty press for sci-fi and horror. I think it's possible that this is one of their first mainstream paperback releases.

Anyway, the book -- I really enjoyed it. It's a blend of science fiction, fantasy, mystery and horror, and it does the whole thing quite well. It's sort of urban fantasy set in the future with some heaven/hell mythology and a Chinese setting. It was the fact that the main character, Wei Chen, is Chinese that interested me in the book. I don't know if the author is Chinese (part or full or not) and it doesn't really matter to me because it is very clear that she has done her homework on the setting and on the character.

The Publishers Weekly review called Chen "a crack paranormal crime investigator" and they are on target. He actually uses police procedure to investigate the crime (the stealing of innocent souls for use in a brothel in hell), and you get a feel for the real-life rivalry between law enforcement groups when he's forced to collaborate with a vice cop from hell and an assassin of demons who works for the government.

Another nice touch was that his relationship with his wife was really realistic, IMO. No sunshine and roses, just two people (spoiler alert: well, not really two people, because his wife is a demon) trying to make it together and work out their differences and understand each other's needs.

I'm very much looking forward to the reissued paperback editions of the next two in the series, The Demon and the City and Precious Dragon, to be released in February and March 2008, respectively.

This looks interesting .... Night Child by Jes Battis

I ran across a future release listing today on Amazon.com for a book called Night Child by Jes Battis, and I didn't recognize the author's name, so I googled him/her. It turned out to be a guy, who happens to be a professor, and here's his website: http://www.sfu.ca/~jbattis/.

And here's the blurb he has for the book that got me really interested: "What would a vampire courtroom look like? How do you test a demon's DNA? Tess Corday answers these questions as an OSI (Occult Special Investigator) working in the city of Vancouver. Using a mixture of cutting-edge forensics technology and old-fashioned magic, Tess solves all manner of violent crimes within the supernatural community. If someone unlawfully kills a goblin or a warlock (and there are plenty in the seedier districts of town), she gets the call. But when a routine murder investigation leads Tess to a thirteen-year-old girl named Mia Polanski, her life is plunged into chaos. Mia is trapped in the middle of a turf-war between vampires and necromancers, and as she struggles to protect the innocent girl, Tess finds herself getting closer each second to a conspiracy that could rock the mystical world. All she has to do is stay alive. But first she needs to unravel the mystery of the NIGHT CHILD."

I love paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and the variations of these genres that I've been reading for the last few years. But there's been a little too much repetition lately. This seems like it might be an interesting perspective. Here's to hoping it will be. It's released May 27, 2008 from Ace.

Last Minute Cover Modifications

Past readers of this blog will know that I'm fascinated by book covers. I'm doubly fascinated when a book cover is commissioned, created, released publicly, but then changed before printing. What issue or concern or feeling prompts these changes? Does the author ever have a say in the change? Do publishers have focus groups or something to make this type of decision for them? I know I miss some of these changing covers, but I usually try to save copies when I remember it happening. Here are a couple cover changes I've seen recently:

The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair -- The red cover is the original, and the blue the second one that it should be released with (I haven't bought my copy yet to find out for sure). The obvious changes are the much larger typeface of the author's name, a more minimized focus on the title (which might seem an odd title to some readers, though not to me), and a much more romance-friendly picture with a heroine who is now not holding a gun.

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas -- The white cover is the original and the blue cover is the cover actually released. I think it's just a coincidence, but it is funny to me that both of these covers are now blue. As a library worker, I see a lot of books, and blue is definitely a popular choice, partially because it implies comfort. I really like the change in this particular cover because of the more obvious contrast in color. The picture itself is almost the same (her arms are in different positions, but the dress and the necklace seem unchanged). But the new blue matches the title much better and it doesn't seem washed-out as the first does.